The second Via Water Café (09/02/2018) was yet another event to remember. Joined by experts in the water, marketing and sanitation sector. The Via Water contract partners had another chance properly organised to pitch their project ideas, success, challenges and questions to the audience.

The great day started with an eye opening presentation by a 'water expert by profession', Dick Bouman who spoke about two initiatives aimed at the rapid expansion of peri-urban areas, concluding that without acceleration we will not achieve the goals of total coverage until 2030.
The first initiative is a study to small private companies that provide safe water in peripheral areas by kiosks and other types of distribution systems. The other initiative is a pilot project in Ethiopia, where water companies sell portable water to customers so as to compensate for the poor quality of the water supplied. I saw it as an initiation to reduce the initial investment cost on water treatment enterprise which can be attractive to small-scale water sector investors.

Following the presentation, all Mozambique contract partners had their project pitch. Using my leadership skills from Ghana, I found it also important to empower and test my subordinate to pitch in front of potential investors. Luckily he had four full minutes which he left audience with maximum satisfaction.

On behalf of GIMDA, I also want to extent my best wishes of luck to Silas Mvulirwenande, a post-doc researcher who accompanied Dick Bouman throughout this latest event. We thank you for the advice, support and knowledge shared during the bi-lateral meeting.